Weekly wrap up

The big news of the week had to do with Vanya and his prosthetic to be. He didn't get fit on Friday because we have to go to Biotech to do that. He did meet with the rehab medicine doc, orthopedist, PT, prosthetist, and rep from Biotech. Everyone was in agreement that Vanya should be fitted with a basic leg so he can better work on trunk control. We have an appointment the first week in November to get fitted and it all goes pretty fast from there.

Vanya is doing a couple of new things this week. He is now eating sitting upright in his high chair instead of reclined. He is also able to sign "more." He is doing much better with eating non-pureed foods. He is a master of puffs and cheerios. He has also tried some banana and cheese pieces. He is moving the food around in his mouth without gagging. He is trying to pick up the puffs and has even made a few attempts to put something in his mouth, but we still have a ways to go with this. I am on the hunt for foods that will be easy for him to practice self-feeding. Most of the stuff that is easy for him to eat is hard to pick up and vice versa.

Ben has officially mastered riding his bicycle without training wheels. He has also finished book 3 of Harry Potter and convinced Andy to let him move on to book 4. I managed to survive watching his kindergarten class for an hour, just barely. I don't think I will be volunteering for that again anytime soon. Abby is sweet as ever. Poor girl. Before her skinned knees had time to heal, she fell again and now has another set of boo boos. We went to her Open House at preschool this week and got to see what all she has been up to.

The longest 5 miles

That would be the 5 miles between Abby's preschool and our house traveled with a little man who is usually at least 15 minutes past the time he needs to be sleeping. Don't get me wrong. He isn't cranky or crying. He would just like to go to sleep and could easily do so. The problem is that he would awaken 5 minutes later in the garage feeling like he has had all the sleep he needs. Ummmm, no thank you. So, I have to keep him awake for the ride home. We exit the preschool parking lot with a lap full of toys. By the time we get to the interstate, most of those toys have been jettisoned from the carseat and are out of reach. Then the fun starts as I desperately try to find anything that I can lob safely to him from the front seat - magazines, diapers, junk mail, empty plastic bottles. You get the picture. Today's winner was the Costco coupon booklet. He was quite interested in something that is on sale. The ride home from preschool pickup is a little easier because he has the always enertaining big sister Abby to prevent his slumber. She takes her job very seriously and has her own favorite techniques. Her favorite is the "rip up a magazine" trick which usually leaves her little bro belly laughing and my van looking like a confetti factory.

Our big news of the day is that we have an appointment on Friday to get Vanya fitted for his prosthetic. I am so excited for him. I hope he is equally excited when he is getting an impression made of his stump in the middle of naptime.

Tomorrow I am babysitting Ben's kindergarten class while his teacher goes to a planning meeting. Surely, there will be a planned activity or I may not survive.

                                           He doesn't look tired........

                                         My trusty assistant.

No Patch Tuesday!!

Tuesday is quickly becoming my favorite day of the week. It is the one day my sweet little man does not have to wear his eye patch. I get to look at both of his gorgeous eyes all day long. I also take a lot of pictures.

Look how tall he is sitting!!



Can you hear the giggles?

                         My three sweeties.

Oh, and we also have an injury report. Poor Abby.





A long overdue update

I had been debating whether to start a new blog to document Vanya's progress, but I think we'll just go with this one. Vanya has been home a little over 3 months. During this time, I think we have seen every physician in the Birmingham metro area. Okay, not really, but we have seen a bunch. So, where are we?

Vanya was seen in the UAB International Adoption Clinic. All of his bloodwork, including genetic testing, came back NORMAL. He brought home a few parasite friends who have since been eradicated with flagyl. He had x-rays of his hips, legs, arms, and hands. He was seen by orthopedists both here in Birmingham and at Shriner's in Greenville. Vanya's missing leg and hand anomolies are most likely the result of amniotic banding. Basically, strings broke away from the amniotic sac and he got tangled up. These bands caused his leg and fingers to be amputated while he was inutero. The plan was for Vanya to be fitted with a prosthetic leg when he started pulling up to stand. He was also referred to the local Limb Deficiency Clinic run by Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services. He was also referred for Early Intervention Services through Hand in Hand.

Vanya  had an MRI in August which confirmed part of what we had been told in Ukraine. Vanya does have damage to his brain related to his premature birth, specifically he has mild to lesser moderate periventricular leucomalacia (PVL). The most common sequelae of PVL is cerebral palsy. When Vanya was seen in the Limb Deficiency clinic in September, the rehab medicine doctor felt quite certain that he had right sided spastic hemiplegia. Because of this, he felt Vanya needed more intense PT as well as OT services. He is currently getting PT twice per week and will get OT twice per month.

The other big issue we have is vision. Vanya saw the opthamalogist in August and was diagnosed with optic nerve atrophy and cortical visual impairment. We have been diligently patching his eyes since then and I am please to report that at today's appointment, the doc said he saw some improvement. Yippee!!

In the 3 months since Vanya has been home, he has worked very hard and has made lots of gains. This was a kiddo who could barely hold up his head when we first met him. He now rolls easily front to back and back to front, commando crawls wherever he wants to go, and can prop sit for short periods of time. He is an absolute JOY!!! He wakes with a smile on his face and has the sweetest giggle ever.

I promise to do a better job with updates now that we are sorta caught up.